Eating Sloppily in the Public: Deviance and Conformity - Case Study Example

Eating Sloppily in the Public: Deviance and Conformity Deviance is seen as a break from what constitutes the norms ofa society. A behavior is said to be deviant when the behavior does not conform to the overall expectations of the society. Societal expectations are behaviors derived from values that a society hold dear and expects its members to demonstrate. In this experiment, I set out to violate one of the values that the society in which I live hold dear. The society expects that individuals should have learned eating etiquette by the age ten at latest. Children and adults are expected to demonstrate “table manners” while eating. Table manners are used to refer to expected behaviors that an individual should demonstrate while eating anywhere, not just at a table. Some of the unwritten rules of “table manners” are that one should eat with the mouth closed, eat gently, avoid smearing the face with food while eating and take small manageable bites amongst others. In my experimental scenario, I set out to violate such norms of the so-called table manners by eating an ice-cream sloppily in the market place. The society does not expect such behaviors, therefore it is a deviant behavior. Normative behavior as it applies to my act would have been to eat the ice-cream gently, slowly, with my mouth closed and without gobbling it up hurriedly. The normative behavior is important in the society as people are expected to conform to regulations through positive response. Good manners are treated with a lot of seriousness, as it is believed that manners help in shaping personality. Many societies also agree that there should be a code of public behavior and that individuals should conform to such expectations. There is very little cultural relativity when it comes to table manners. However, the West is very keen on such observance. The violation of the expected “table manners” is considered a deviant behavior because while “everyone” else observes the expected eating habits and behaviors, only a few individuals are seen not to conform to what the entire society is practicing. To that extent it is a deviant behavior. Cultural relativity and value system are responsible for different expectations in accepted code of behaviors in every society. Theoretical Perspectives on Deviant Behavior From the perspective of sociologists, the very nature of the existence of the world can be explained in the various theoretical points of view. The various theoretical perspectives put forth by sociologists are very instrumental in providing the foundations for understanding the cause of deviant behaviors. The acts of violation of social norms explain the conflict between deviance and normalcy. In this instance, it is noteworthy to observe that deviant acts not only entail the extreme forms of resistance against the conventional social practices such as carrying out arsonist acts, committing crime or murder, but also encompasses acts that may be less violent. However, such acts may not conform to the accepted codes of social conduct. This concurs with a number of researches that had been conducted previously (Pantsyr and Novgorodtseva 71). While aiming to find out some of the common instances of deviance, findings from a number of studies indicate that some deviant acts may go unnoticed. That is because many people are preoccupied with their life endeavors. However, acts such as eating sloppily at the full glare of the public are one form in which the social norms can be violated. The theory of social control argues that the life of an individual is consistently determined by the social control. The social control is used in this context to refer to the efforts of the society in governing the behaviors and the thought of its subjects. In most cases, the processes of social control are characterized by informality. This implies that the rules governing certain social behaviors lack formality or are unofficial in style. For instance, when someone exercises bad eating habits in the public, such as the one observed during the research, there are formal mechanisms, structures or policies that should be followed to compel such violators of social norms to behave in the expected way. However, in some extreme cases of deviance, even criminal behavior may be observed, in which case necessitate the intervention of criminal justice. In other words, there are clear structures and outlines of combating serious cases of deviance within the society. It is easily understood that the various structures such as courts, police and prisons are put in place to deal with the extremity of deviant behaviors (Humphrey and Frank 36) Not conformity to social rules is significantly affected by the environment or cultural settings in which an individual has been brought up. This implies that what may be considered as deviance in one community may be very much accepted in different environmental settings. This can be explained by the fact that cultures differ from place to place. For example, eating sloppily in public may just be deviance in a given social setting. In a different cultural environment, however, such acts may be acceptable. In addition, societies evolve. For this reason, what may be considered acceptable at one point in history by eventually become socially unacceptable in the latter years. For instance, the culture of the American society has significantly shifted from the strict rules that were conventionally accepted as the standards for moral behaviors several decades ago to a pro-human rights society that endeavors to accept everyone however deviant they may be considered. The observed deviant act can also be explained in the context of the theory of strain and anomie. The famous sociologist Robert Merton forwarded the theories of anomie and strain in 1957. According to Pantsyr and Novgorodtseva (68) theories of anomie and strain try to examine the reason some cultures, societies, individuals or groups of people engage in deviant behaviors. Theory of structural strain and anomie are constructed based on the pressures exerted on individuals by the manner in which societies are structured. Essentially, every society has its own unique ways and standards that its members are expected to conform to. Some of these norms are passed down to individuals inform of messages from institutions within the society. In many cases, many individuals conform to these expectations and are considered normal. However, these norms can be overwhelming to some individuals within the same society. These groups find the regulations oppressive and consequently violate the established social norms. For such groups of people that violate such social regulations, the deviant behaviors are perceived as the mechanism for coping with the stress or the pressure that is generated by the social regulations. It can be argued that by eating sloppily in the public during the research was in fact reacting to the pressures that were being generated by societal expectations of the society. Considering the manner in which I was eating the ice-cream at the marketplace, I represented a deviant individual who unknowingly goes against the established norms. Such an individual is usually not aware that what he/she is doing is wrong, so they commit the deviant act anyway. The pressure on such an individual as he/she commits the deviant act is almost visible. He was eating the ice-cream not just sloppily and unperturbed. In the context of the theory of anomie, the deviant behavior that was observed could be a result of the cultural relativity. The assumption is that when an individual eats sloppily in the public, it is probably due to different cultural backgrounds and upbringing. The deviant behavior, therefore, can be assumed to be the product of the different cultural upbringing through which the individual underwent. Methodology The objective of the experiment of the experiment was to investigate various forms of deviant behavior that are common among the city residents. A rigorous method was engaged to evaluate the hypothesis of the study, which was suggested that deviant behaviors are the functions of cultural differences or the pressure from the expectation of the society. Therefore, the research was designed to test the causal relationship between three different variables, which includes deviant acts as the independent variable, and the pressure raised by the expectations of the norms of the society the dependent variable. To a given extent, the experiments also sought to examine the implications of cultural differences in deviant behaviors. The study was practically based on observations. The study was designed to achieve its objectives by observing the reactions of the members of the public towards poor eating habits in the public. Target Audience The experiments targeted to note the reactions of various individuals cutting across age, culture or gender. The study was staged at a strategic spot where the targeted audience could be observed without raising suspicion. Since the study was designed to examine how people would react when they saw a grown up eating sloppily in the public, the experiment was staged outside an ice-cream shop located in a clean and seemingly quiet environment within the town. It is important to note that the choice of the shop was decided on because there was a footpath passing right in front of it. For this reason, it was an ideal place because many people could easily see one of our colleagues, who intentionally eating ice-cream sloppily outside next to the footpath. Measuring the reaction of the target Audience The reactions of the target audience were measured through observation. This entails a keen concentration on the body languages and facial expression of the target audience. It was predetermined that the target audience would show different signs when they saw a person with poor eating habits eating sloppily at the public. To ensure accuracy of the observations, the reactions of the target audience were recorded through secret cameras that were placed in twigs and flower that were within the vicinity. This aided further analysis. In my case study when I experimented by eating sloppily in the marketplace, I was surprised to realize that many people did not take notice. A number of women of different ages just passed without saying anything. Analysis and Discussion The outcome of the study was congruent with the hypothesis of the study, although some mixed observations were also made. As it was expected, most of the target audience displayed facial expressions that signified disgust when they saw our colleague eating sloppily at the public. There were traces of elements of anger in the faces of some of the target audience. These behaviors clearly pointed out that something was wrong with the behavior that was being exhibited by our colleague. After careful analysis of the images captured by the cameras it was clear that eating sloppily in public in American society greatly violates the certain principles of social behaviors. Many Americans eat many of their foods with their hands the way our colleague was doing, they are keen observers of eating habits. As a result, slopping eating in public violates social expectations and may be intolerable. Surprisingly, not everyone that passed by were intrigued by what our colleague was doing. Some did not bother to correct me or seem concerned. The reasons could be that people are aware of deviant acts, but few take the responsibility to try to correct someone especially if the individual is a stranger to them. However, individuals would sneer at deviant behaviors if they spot one while in a group. If those who spot the deviance behavior know the deviant, he/she will most likely be corrected or rebuked. Therefore, one can observe that many deviance behaviors are likely to go uncorrected but that does not mean that the society agrees with the behavior This experiment revealed that the study of deviant behavior could be determined by pursuing how socially acceptable behaviors are perceived among the public. Despite the fact that societies are multidimensional in nature, they are constituted of various parts that are interconnected. These different parts often require consistency and if one aspect is violated, the public is likely to react in a manner that is intended to compel the violator to stop being defiant and conform to the acceptable ways. In other words, the social groups usually react towards deviant behaviors as a mode of fostering conformity to the morals, folkways and laws governing social behaviors. Mores are constructed on the concepts of ethics and morality. Therefore, the functionality of mores can be viewed in term of elimination of potentially negative behaviors in the society such as use of derogative languages in the public. Violating mores attracts consequences that are severe in comparison to other forms of social regulations. For instance, someone who uses defamatory language at workplace risks being dismissed. Worse still is the impact of violating this regulation of social behavior on the reputations of an individual. For example, if an individual in respectable position or authority uses negative language, they not only risk losing their position of leadership, but also stand a chance staining their reputation with negativity. On the other hand, folkways refer to the behaviors that are accepted within a community and are commonly practiced in day-to-day life in a given culture. They include behaving courteously in public, being keen on the social events so to be able to send the right gift at the right time. For instance, it would be considered deviant behavior if an individual sends Christmas gifts in April. In this case, by eating sloppily in public, I was violating the popularly accepted folkways of observing courtesy and acceptable behavior in the public domain. The experiment shows some aspects that are very instrumental to the understanding of deviant behavior. For instance, the study establishes the precepts that govern the definition of deviant behavior. This tries to find out what enhances the classification of behavior in term of deviant behaviors or normal behaviors. The study suggests that the definition of deviant behavior varies significantly within groups in the society. This implies that the behavior that is considered deviant within a given a society may be very much accepted in another society. This explains why most people were irritated at the picture of an individual eating sloppily in public, while others in the same environment are not moved by the act. This may be true considering the fact that America is a diverse community. Whereas many people would be obviously irritated by the behavior, some may not bother due their upbringing and cultural conformity. What this means is that there is no particular behavior that is inherently deviant. Every action becomes deviant depending on the relationship between the exhibited behavior and the environment in which actor found. It is only when a society has established value system that deviant behaviors may be observed. The experiment also establishes the type of people that violate the expected codes of moral conduct within a society. In addition, it also explains that people are likely to deviate from what is generally accepted among social groups as the moral behavior due to the pressure placed on them by the social systems. Most of the violators are usually very much unaware and less conscientious the fact that their behaviors violate the expected code of behavior in the society. People violate such social norms or the social rules that govern social behavior because such rules put a lot of pressure on them to confine them to conform to these socially accepted behaviors. As has been exemplified, deviant behavior is a product of cultural relativity and value system of a society. Conformity or the violation of social codes of conduct is found within the parameters of moral obligations. Individuals from are only seen to be deviant in the event that the society has established rules or expectation levels to which everyone is expected to conform. The hidden power of control explains why people may want to conform whereas strain and anomie theories explain the reason for observable violations. The most outstanding observation is the fact that in many cases, deviants are not even aware of the fact that there is some social pressure around them, which expects them to conform to a certain direction. Different individuals also respond to deviant behaviors different. While others may show facial expression of disapproval of deviance, others may do not bother. The decision to choose to rebuke a deviant behavior or not depends largely on whether the public know the deviant. In many cases, strangers are ignored whereas friends correct friends. Therefore, it is observable that cultural relativity and value system are responsible for different expectations in accepted code of behaviors in every society. Works Cited Humphrey, John and Frank, Schmalleger. Deviant Behavior. London: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, 2011. Print. Pantsyr, S. N., and A. P. Novgorodtseva. "Personality Features In Adolescents With Deviant Behavior. (English)." Cultural-Historical Psychology 2 (2013): 64-72. Read More